Chapter 52

Dana tried hard to ignore and knocked on the door of the office, and went inside with a voice to come in.

“So, did you decide?”

The scene she saw in her dream overlapped in her head. Most of the places she saw in her dreams and the places she’s seeing now were the same, but the composition was strangely different.

Grabbing her blurred gaze, Dana told Harbert about the matter.

“Who’s the one who you meet there? In the Grand Duchy.”

“Why are you curious about that? You just have to do what you’re told. Well, there’s nothing I can’t tell you if I’m really curious.”

Harbert didn’t tell her but eventually took out a letter from the Grand Duchy to coax Dana and showed it.

He pointed to the seal stamped in the letter and said.

“The Master’s seal is stamped. It means that the Grand Duke may come out himself. I don’t know why they asked for you, but for us, we have to make this happen even with a stand-in.”

“The Grand Duke himself…?”

Harbert didn’t know Owen had returned, and he thought it would be him because Leon had always been the Master since he became a Grand Duke.

However, Dana knew that Leon would come in a few days at the earliest.

If that’s Leon’s reply, does that mean he’s already back? If she encounters him on the spot, how would Leon react to seeing her?

Thinking so, Dana’s fear and expectations crossed at once.

Expectations that Leon will be able to reunite and return, and fear that he might change his mind and pretend not to know her.

And the fear no longer stemmed from worries about survival or future work.

Leaving complicated emotions behind, Dana came to her senses and asked him again what she was curious about.

“That Dana Deniz… What is this person doing right now? Why can’t she go out?”

She was purely curious and asked a question, but Harbert coughed and avoided eye contact. And he answered indirectly with a low voice.

“That’s… Everyone has their reasons… There are many reasons why she can’t come out. Hmm. Oh, yeah. She’s not feeling well. She can’t even get up from her seat.”

“I see…”

His reaction was a little strange, but she went on with it.

“Are you thinking?”

Dana bit her lower lip tightly and hesitated for a moment. Harbert began to collect certain documents as if he didn’t have to hear her answer.

“When you’re done, you have to let me go.”

“Of course. I’ll give you half as a down payment first, and the other half when I’m done.”

“I don’t need money…”

Dana, who was going to say she didn’t need it, shut up and changed her words.

“Yes, I got it.”

In the worst case, she might not be able to enter the castle again. She thought it would be better to have some money in preparation for that case.

Harbert had an insidious thought and put out some documents in front of Dana.

“If you don’t know how to read it, you just have to write your name on the bottom at the beginning. Do you not know how to write your name?”

“…”

Dana quickly read through the document without answering. At the top of the document, it was said that Dana Deniz delegated all authority to the agent.

“I only know how to write names. I don’t know how to read.”

“Well, I knew it. It’s simple. You can remember what I’m saying and tell them when you meet people from the Grand Duke’s side.”

“Yes.”

Harbert told Dana what she had to say and what she had to do, even hand and feet gestures.

It was really easy. After simply saying hello, she could introduce the people of the Deniz Merchants and arrange for them to talk to him.

She couldn’t believe that they managed to drag people, put surveillance, and pay a huge sum of money for this. They may have said that she was sick in the first place, but why were they even using a substitute for the role of Dana Deniz?

This is cheating on Leon.

If she appears anyway, Leon will be able to see and notice right away. What happened after that could not be predicted even by Dana.

There were more than a few gray areas, but Dana accepted to do the job anyway.

She deliberately wrote her name “Sarah” in crooked writing on his contract with the merchant group. Then Dana found a part that read,

“After signing the contract, if you do not respond to the above request or… If you run away, you take a penalty. This contract will remain in effect even after the end of the work… Do you agree?”

Her whole body went numb. Harbert’s words were different from the words written here. However, because she said she didn’t know how to read, she couldn’t ask right away.

They’re incredible people. What should I do?

“Is there anything else I need to know?”

“I’ll tell you when I think of it. Just remember what you told me. Since there’s not much time left, I’ll do tests once in the morning and evening.”

After Dana had left, Harbert stuck out his tongue and licked his lower lip like a snake.

The more I see her, the more beautiful she is. It’s just Rian’s taste…  It’s not good to touch her because of what I said now. When she’s done with the work… I’ll go first.

Harbert giggled alone, rolled up the papers, and put them in a drawer.